This as Homeland bosses make sure people KNOW that PAID ICE and people are in place at screening points….
Over three hours into a House Homeland Security committee hearing, lawmakers and Transportation Security Administration officials are stressing the urgency of the ongoing government shutdown as TSA workers scrape by without pay and long security lines wind through some airports.
The shutdown may force TSA to consider closing some airports until funding resumes, said Ha Nguyen McNeill, the agency’s acting administrator. She said multiple airports are experiencing callout rates higher than 40%.
The security line at New York’s LaGuardia Airport extended virtually the whole length of Terminal B at midday Wednesday.
The line curved around corners and, at points, snaked back and forth in a zigzag of people, suitcases and strollers. A few ICE agents were seen nearby.
At the spot where the queue finally stopped, an airport employee held up a yellow sign reading, “This is the end of the line, please join here.”
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TSA official says agency may have to consider closing some airports during shutdown
“At this point, we have to look at all options on the table. We don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing how we maintain our operations,” McNeill said. “And that does require us to, at some point, make very difficult choices as to which airports we might try to keep open and which ones we might have to shut down as our callout rates increase.”
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Over 480 TSA officers have now quit as the shutdown persists, official says
During the House Committee on Homeland Security hearing, McNeill said that more than 480 transportation security officers have now quit amid the ongoing shutdown.
McNeill reiterated the growing financial strain facing that workforce, including missed bill payments, eviction notices and lost child care.
“Some are sleeping in their cars, selling their blood and plasma, and taking on second jobs to make ends meet, all while being expected to perform at the highest level when in uniform to protect the traveling public,” she said.
Nguyen McNeill added that callout rates have reached 40% to 50% at multiple major airports recently, compared with an average of 4% before the shutdown, because staff “simply cannot afford to report to work.”
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TSA chief says assaults against officers on the rise
In addition to missed pay, TSA officers working at the nation’s airports have experienced a more than 500% increase in the frequency of assaults since the Homeland Security shutdown began in mid-February.
Ha Nguyen McNeill, the acting TSA administrator, made the disclosure during Wednesday’s congressional hearing.
“This is unacceptable, and it will not be tolerated,” said McNeill, who called for patience and understanding from the public as they experience longer screening times at many airports.
“We are pursuing all legal avenues to prosecute these incidents,” she told lawmakers.
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TSA officers share how they’re scraping by without pay
A woman in Indiana who put off dental surgery because she doesn’t know if she can afford the copay. A Florida couple with young children who are depleting their savings. A grandmother in Idaho who plans to sell her car to pay the rent.
They are among the tens of thousands of Transportation Security Administration officers set to receive another $0 paycheck this week. A dispute in Congress over funding the Department of Homeland Security has held up their salaries since mid-February. With monthly bills coming due, many of these federal employees, who screen passengers and luggage at airports across the U.S., are making difficult choices about how to make ends meet.
“Stop asking me about the long lines. Ask me if somebody’s gonna eat today,” Hydrick Thomas, president of the national American Federation of Government Employees union council that represents TSA employees, told reporters Tuesday.
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